Rhythmic inhaler



Jan, 5, 1937. M. B. GEORGE 2,057,120

` RHYTHMIC INHALER l u Filed March 17, 1936 Patented Jan. V5, 1937UNITED STATS it T 6 Claims.

This invention relates to inhalers and particularly to inhalers such asare used by dentists and doctors for the inhalation of nitrous oxidegas.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a devicedesigned to be disposed in ,the gas line between Va standard gas machinecontaining nitrous oxide and a standard nasal inhaler, which willrythmically control the passage of the gas to the patient by theprovision of swinging doors or valves which, as the patient inhales,swing open, and as the patient exhales, swing to a closed position tothereby help the, lungs accommodate themselves to the gas pressure, andautomatically and rhythmically adjust the iiow of gas to the regularnasal inhalers according to the capacity of the lungs of diierentpatients, thereby producing a slow, smooth and safe anaesthesia, insteadof the too rapid anaesthesia, which puts the lungs under too muchstrain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for this purposewhich is so constructed as to support a chemical carrier whichimpregnates the gas with a pleasant odor.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction andarrangement of parts as more fully described hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of an inhaling apparatus provided with my flowcontrolling device;

Figure 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section onY the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an inside elevation of the member used on the outlet end oithe body iii.

Referring to this drawing, ie designates a barrel or tubular body of anysuitable material which at its ends has reduced screw threaded portionsil and I2. Adapted to be screwed into the reduced portion I2 is an inletmember having a screw threaded portion I3 which engages the screwthreads on the interior face of the reduced portion l2 and is providedwith a gradually contracted mouth lli. This inlet member is insertedwithin the portion I2 with its gradually contracted mouth directedtowards the interior of the barrel i0.

Adapted to engage with the reduced portion III is an outlet elementdesignated generaly Iii, whose exterior iits the interior of the portionII and is screw threaded to engage with the threads thereci, thiselement I5 having a semi-globular outer end I6 which is formed with aplurality of (Cl. 12S-203) very fine perforations I'I. Disposed acrossthe discharge end of the member I5 is a wire clip i8 having a middleloop i0, and adapted to be engaged with this loop in any suitable manneris a small sponge, designated 2t, or other equivalent material designedto be impregnated with some fragrant chemical or perfume.

Disposed within the body I0 adjacent the inlet element is a ring 2l,which is split at diametrically opposite points, as at 22, and extendingacross these` gaps are the pintles 23. Disposed within this ring andloosely fitting the interior diameter of the ring are the twosemi-circular doors or valves 2d, whose free edges normally approximateeach other. These doors or valves have lugs through which the pintles 23pass so that the doors or valves may swing. Normally these doors orValves will be disposed diametrically across the interior of the barrelJ0. Set screws 25 pass through the barrel I0 from the exterior thereofand enter the ring 2l for the purpose of holding this ring in place.

As shown in Figure l, the device is designed to be disposed within a gasline leading from a source of gas and leading to an ordinary stand- Yard nasal inhaler. The gas line leading from the gas tank or othersource of supply (not shown) is designated 25. This is a rubber tubingleading from the gas machine and which may be inserted over the reducedportion I2 of the barrel I0. Between the nasal inhaler 21 and the outletend of the barrel i0, there lare two tubes 28 as usual. These tubes 28extend into nipples 29 which in turn are connected to a sleeve 30 whichis adapted to be disposed over the reduced portion Ii and in gas-tightengagement therewith. v

It is to be understood that the parts 21 and 2B and the pipe 25 are nopart of my invention; that these are standard parts oi an inhalingmechanism, It is likewise to be understood that the discharge end of thebarrel IFJ might be connected to a single tube leading to an inhalingdevice adapted to be disposed over the nose and having any suitable orusual construction.

In the use of this device connected as described, the inlet element l-Mdirects the gas against the two doors or valves 24 which swing lightlyon their pivots. With each inhalation by the patient, the suctioncreated in combination with the gas pressure causes these doors to swingopen towards the nasal inhaler with a resultant full iiow of gas. Witheach exhalation. the :torce of the patients breath closes these doors.The function of these doors or valves is to act as a brake on the gasand automatically and rhythmically adjust the flow of the gas to thenasal inhaler according to the capacity of lungs of different patients.This construction produces a slow, smooth, safe anaesthesia instead ofthe usual too rapid anaesthesia which puts too much stress on the lungs.The gas as it flows to the patient is impregnated with any desired odoror fragrance which renders the gas pleasant to breathe. This devicegives the lungs a chance to accommodate themselves to the pressure ofthe gas and relieves the patient of the choking sensation sometimessuffered.

While I have illustrated a certain denite structure, I wish it to beunderstood that it might be modiiied in; minor ways Without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that the standard inhaler designated generally 2lin my drawing has an escape valve, and when the patient exhales, aportion of the exhalation escapes through said valve, while theremainder of the exhalation passes back through the rubber hose and hassufficient pressure to swing the doors or Valves back toward the inletwhere the pressure of the exhalation is neutralized by the pressure ofthe nitrous oxide gas. Ordinarily, the rubber tubes leading from the gasmachine are usually in an almost upright position so that gravity alsotends to pull the doors back into their closed position if the force ofthe exhalation is not suicient to counteract the pressure of the gas.Furthermore, the end of the inlet nozzle Hi is sufciently close to thedoors or valves as will prevent their swinging backward to a fullyopened position.

It will be seen that I have provided a nasal inhaler unit which iseasily connected up between the inhaler proper and the source of gas,which may be cheaply made, readily taken apart for cleaning, and inwhich the valve supporting ring and the valves may be readily removed byreason of the fact that the ring 2| is split into two sections, eachsection including its valve, being of less width than the internaldiameter of the open ends Il and l2 of the barrel lil. Because of thefact that the rubber tubes 28 and the barrel IQ in use are in al nearlyvertical position, the weight of the doors will tend to close themagainst the pressure of the gas upon an inhalation by the patient andthus these doors, though they will swing toward the inhaler 2l, will yetact to brake the gas or retard the too rapid movement of the gas andthus take strain from the patients lungs.

What is claimed is:-

l. A device of the character described, including a tubular barrelhaving an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other and adapted to bedisposed in a nitrous oxide gas line between the source of gas and aninhaler, a ring disposed within the barrel and detachable therefrom, anda pair of semi-circular complemental valves swingingly mounted upon saidring, the free edges of the valves approximating each other when closed,the valves swinging open upon an inhalation of the patient and swingingclosed upon exhalation.

2. A device of the character described, including a barrel having aninlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end having an inwardly extending`v)tapered inlet element, the outlet end having a nely perforated outletelement, means in the outlet element for supporting material adapted tocarry a chemical and a pair of semi-circular valves hingedly mountedwithin the barrel and having their straight edges confronting eachother, the barrel being adapted to be disposed in a gas line between asource of nitrous oxide gas and the inhaler and the valves swingingtowards the outlet end of the barrel when the patient inhales andswinging to a closed position as the patient exhales.

3. As an article of manufacture, a device adapted. to be disposedbetween a source of anaesthetic gas and an inhaler including a tubularbarrel having reduced ends, an inlet element adapted to be disposed inand t the interior of one of said reduced ends and having a taperedtubular portion extending into the barrel, an outlet element adapted tobe disposed in engagement with the opposite reduced end of the barrel,the outward element being semi-globular and nely perforated, meanswithin the outlet element for supporting a wad of absorbent materialdesigned to carry an odoriferous chemical, a ring disposed within thebarrel adjacent the inlet element, and a pair of semi-circular valvesdisposed within the ring and approximately tting the same and pivoted toswing to an open or closed position, the free edges of the valvesapproximating each other.

4. A ilow controlling element adapted to be disposed in a gas linebetween a source of anaesthetic gas and an inhaler, including a tubularbarrel having an inlet at one end and an outlet at its opposite end andtwo complementary valves pivotally mounted at their outer edges withinthe barrel for swinging movement in a direction parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the barrel, the valves being adapted to swing openas the patient inhales and swing closed as the patient exhales, eachvalve having the form of half of the cross-section of the barrel.

5. A ow controlling element adapted to be disposed in a gas line betweena. source of anaesthetic gas and an inhaler, including a barrel havingan inlet at one end and an outlet at the other, an annular membercarried by the barrel and projecting inward therefrom and having opposedradially extending slots and a pair of semi-circular complementalValves, the free edges of the valves approximating each other when thevalves are closed and the outer edges of the valves approximating theinner edge face of the end member when the valves are closed, the valvesswinging open upon an inhalation of the patient and swinging closed uponan exhalation.

6. A flow controlling element adapted to be disposed in a gas linebetween a source of anaesthetic gas and an inhaler, including a barrelhaving a screw threaded nipple at its opposite ends, an outlet memberengaged with one of the screw threaded nipples, an inwardly taperinginlet member engaged with the other screw threaded nipple and having asmall end extending into the barrel and semi-circular valves operativelymounted within the barrel for free swinging movement in a generaldirection parallel to the barrel, the conical inlet element having itssmall end disposed adjacent to the valves whereby to limit the movementof the Valves toward the inlet element upon exhalation.

MYRTLE B. GEORGE.

